My fellow Wisconsinites April 5th is coming upon us fast (Tuesday) and we have one really big state election and to my fellow residents of Milwaukee County we have a big one here.

At the state level we have the incumbent, Justice Prosser going up against Joanne Kloppenburg. This is a VERYEXTREMELY important race. Kloppenburg has spent the last 21 years being the lackey attorney for the DNR, taking cases against ordinary citizens for the most mundane, ridiculous things:

1) As the state’s environmental law enforcer, Kloppenburg represented the DNR and state in cases that angered developers, homeowners, and businesses, and she has argued against more local and legislative control (especially when R…epublican legislators took actions to protect citizens upset over what one labeled DNR “arrogance.”)

“It’s a good example of government gone amok,” said the lawyer for a couple who accused the state of rendering their dream property worthless through bureaucratic bungling and zealousness. In another case, Kloppenburg praised as “wonderful” a court decision where a woman couldn’t build a deck on a lake home she inherited from her grandfather.

One case involving Kloppenburg sparked an upset Wisconsin couple to write the governor , accusing the state of rendering their property worthless through bureaucratic bungling and zealous regulation. “It sure puts a sour note on our life,” said one homeowner of the state action against him.

2) A Forest County man battled state officials to keep his retirement home. He had been ordered to move the $170,000 home because it was 15 feet from a lake. The state Supreme Court overruled the appellate court and said the man didn’t h…ave to move his home. The 74-year-old man told the media he just wanted to retire in peace. ”I’m getting so . . . old. I won’t see the end of the case by the way it’s going,” the man said. ”It’s getting too expensive.” The media said a contractor had erroneously built the man’s home too close to the lake. The elderly man had spent more than $80,000 in legal fees. It would cost $130,000 to move the house. A judge had disagreed with the local county saying it was wrong to make the man move his house. The appeals court overruled the judge. The state Supreme Court was unanimous in its decision siding with the judge and allowing the man to not have to move his house. Although she was not listed on court documents as the attorney of record, and while acknowledging the decision was fair, Kloppenburg was interviewed by the media and praised the case for reinforcing the rights of the state to enforce shoreline zoning codes. She said the case “’reconfirms the paramount interest of the state, of all of us, in the protection of our waters through shore land zoning.” (Wisconsin State Journal, July 2, 1998.) Kloppenburg has also been at the center of opposing state Legislative attempts to rein in the power of the DNR and state Department of Justice when it comes to environmental enforcement (she has supported the DNR’s greater pursuit of power in court). In some of those cases, which reached the state Supreme Court, incumbent Justice David Prosser disagreed with Kloppenburg, who argued for the DNR to have more power, and the Legislature to have less, when it came to disputes between the state and private landowners.

3) Homeowners William and Lynn Gerrits didn’t want to have to move their home near a creek in Kaukauna and they had a variance from the zoning law that said the buildings needed to be 75 feet from the water. It would cost $50,000 to move …their house back 18 feet more, and only parts of the home (the deck, and part of the garage) were within the 75 feet. A local county board granted the couple a variance because it determined that the local government failed to tell the homeowners the house was too close to the creek when issuing a building permit. The board found the home was not contrary to public interests. The attorney for the couple noted in court documents: “In a day when raw sewage is dumped into our lakes by cities after heavy rainstorms; in a day when it is commonplace for beaches to be closed due to unhealthy levels of contaminants, we find the state of Wisconsin bringing its force not to clean our lakes and streams, but to make a homeowner move a deck and garage,” But Kloppenburg, argued for the state that the couple didn’t deserve a variance, “We are not picking fights with anybody,” she said. “We want to make sure statewide everybody is following the same standards. … Studies show indisputably that development within the setbacks does harm water quality over time. The science is very sound.” (AP, Jan. 13, 2004).

Now onto Milwaukee County. The position of Milwaukee County Executive is open since our former exec is now our governor (yay Scott!). I hope you all have enough sense on this to vote for Jeff Stone, an experienced member of legislature, here are some highlights:

Representative Stone began elective public service as a member of the Greenfield Common Council in 1994 and served through 1998. During four (4) years as alderman, Stone worked to control taxes, and build a sound fiscal plan. The city debt was nearly eliminated by the plans put in place during Jeff’s tenure as Finance Chair, and the City’s Bond Rating was upgraded.

In April 1998 while finishing a term as President of the Greenfield City Council, Jeff was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in a Special Election. He was re-elected in November of that year to a full term, and since has been re-elected four (4) more times.

State Representative Jeff Stone was born in Topeka, Kansas January 28, 1961

This last session the frustration truly mounted. Several of us on behalf of our Republican colleagues stepped across the partisan aisle in an effort to bridge ideologies and work toward creative solutions as the economy struggled and jobs continued to be lost. Know that your consistent feedback was crucial in giving precision, purpose and motivation to that effort.

As an experienced, fiscally conservative legislator Stone’s top priorities have consistently been:

Reducing Government Spending & Tax Reform,

Economic Development, Infrastructure and Job Creation,

Campaign and Election Reform, and Protecting our Wisconsin Quality of Life.

Now onto Chris Abele, his liberal, thinks he’s above the law opponent with absolutely no experience running anything except away from the law. Some facts about Mr Abele:

In July 1996, Abele was arrested in the northern suburb for driving while under the influence. Milwaukee police began pursuing Abele’s green, two-door Mazda after he was clocked driving 65 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone. After a short chase, Abele finally pulled over at the intersection of N. Port Washington Rd. and W. Silver Spring Dr. in Glendale.

He didn’t address the issue for 7 years! A warrant was issued for his arrest in 2003. He could have served the time or pay the fine, obviously he paid the fine.

In 2006 he had an altercation with his neighbor, attorney Michael Hupy. The Altercation ended with Mr Abele shooting a firework at Hupy.

Is this someone we really want running our county? He is 44 years old and acts like a spoiled little rich 18 year old. Vote Jeff Stone for Milwaukee County Executive on April 5th.